Mercedes did not usually problem Crimson Bull and Ferrari on the entrance of the pack by the primary half of this season because it struggled with porpoising and bouncing on its W13 automotive.
The staff opted for a special design route in comparison with the remainder of the sector, chasing a slimline sidepod resolution that was dubbed the ‘zeropod’ when it debuted in Bahrain testing.
Because the season progressed, Mercedes gained a greater understanding of its automotive and the problems it confronted, paving the best way for George Russell to attain pole in Hungary on the finish of July.
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin defined Mercedes was “not desirous to go down the route of simply copying the quickest automotive that we may see”, as a substitute taking a long-term view with its automotive idea.
“If you have a look at the long-term future as a staff by a set of laws, if you happen to do not perceive it, copying will solely get you thus far,” Shovlin advised Motorsport.com.
“Probably the most delicate components of the automotive’s aerodynamics exist beneath it. So the bit that you’re least capable of copy is the bit that is most vital anyway.
“I might say that within the media, the idea of the slender bodywork was in all probability a a lot larger speaking level than it was throughout the staff.
“However we weren’t clinging to it by any sort of kind of affection for our personal concepts.”
George Russell, Mercedes W13
Picture by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Pictures
Shovlin stated the issues Mercedes confronted “wouldn’t have been solved by altering our bodywork in a rush” and following different design routes for this 12 months, notably given the stress of the funds cap.
“We should be very cautious about the place we’re the place we’re spending that [resource] and what we did not need to do was embark on a mission that may take 4 to 6 weeks to ship,” Shovlin stated.
“We wished to go step-by-step and test, does what we’re doing on the automotive is sensible with all of our instruments and all of our expectations?
“As a result of we had been nearly tiptoeing by the early steps of growth, simply to see if we are able to make a change to the automotive and get the anticipated impact, relatively than put all our hopes in movement for one thing that appears bodily totally different and might out of the blue rocket us up the grid.”
Mercedes has not dominated out switching automotive idea for subsequent 12 months and following a Crimson Bull-style design route, given nearly all of groups have opted for its sidepod resolution.
Workforce principal Toto Wolff stated Mercedes had “no particular choice” over what idea it follows, however that it’s merely “about having the quickest automotive.”
“We’ll by no means copy anyone else, however we may even see issues on different vehicles that we deem to be higher,” Wolff advised Motorsport.com.
“So these basic questions are being mentioned in the intervening time and [will be] answered by September.”